For a long time I’ve been a “good” girl; the ideal and traditional Asian girl. No drugs or alcohol, finishing my homework on time and reporting everything to my parents. However, America changed me – or maybe I’ve just explored a real me in America.

Last week, during our first week of school, America celebrated the Presidential Inauguration. The next day was the Women’s March, a series of political protests that took place across the U.S. and all over the world – including San Diego. My friend shared this event with me on Facebook for a long time ago. At first, I was just interested. But finally, I went.

It was a beautiful Saturday with some rain drops. I was so surprised that thousands of people went to the march: women, men, children, members of LGBT community and people from different backgrounds. People made their own slogans. If you read those, some would make you feel peaceful, some make you impressed, some make you feel powerful.

I’m not a political person, but I fight for women’s rights. This is my first time to join in a march and I realized that I’ve never taken any action to fight for something, except during finals week. It’s not fighting to click a “thumbs up” on your Facebook page when you see a video about a rapist getting arrested, or to comment from behind your laptop screen, or to passively share the news article about a Muslim student being robbed on campus.

I could feel the power and people’s emotion during the march. Nothing aggressive, but powerful. This feeling is totally different than the feeling you get sharing your opinion with friends about parents arranging a marriage. It’s totally different than when you argue with someone about abortion. It’s totally different than getting angry about a transgender getting person kicked out of a grocery store.

I’m glad I’m not alone. I’m glad I can be part of this army. I’m glad I still can fight for something. At the same time, I feel sad that some of the people I care about the most cannot understand me. I feel sad that many people don’t think equality matters to them. I feel sad that a lot of people have lost their will to fight.

We are not going against someone, we are protecting what we should have. I will continue taking action to fight for equality and human rights.

Women’s power is fighting for women’s rights.

Luqi Zhang is a junior accounting and marketing major. She came to SDSU from China.